The year 2004 marked the passing of many local residents, including Albert Stanley Goodrich, Jr, who died on January 19. For ten years Mr Goodrich helped spearhead development and mapping of a recreational, pedestrian greenway trail in Newtown, which has since become known as “Al’s Trail.”

He was an avid photographer and an active member of Flagpole Photographers. With his good friend Mary Mitchell, he photographed historical homes in Newtown and co-authored Touring Newtown’s Past as a fundraiser for the Friends of the C.H. Booth Library. He and Mrs Mitchell were selected Grand Marshals of Newtown’s Labor Day Parade in 2001 in recognition of their efforts on behalf of the town.

Mr Goodrich was also an outdoor enthusiast, hiking trails in Newtown and surrounding towns as well as canoeing local waterways. He and Mrs Mitchell shared this interest with others by co-authoring a series of books known as the Newtown Trails books.

Robert Pierson Stokes, a longtime resident of Sandy Hook and community volunteer, died March 9. In 2002, after 50 years with the Newtown Rotary Club, he was recognized with the Paul Harris Fellowship for his dedication, service, and leadership. During his 50 years with the club, he held almost every position, most recently as Master Chef for the annual Pancake Day in December. He was a volunteer driver for Friends In Service Here (FISH), trustee of the Newtown Meeting House, and a member of the Horticulture Club of Newtown. He was also a longtime member of the Newtown Forest Association, Newtown Historical Society, and a dedicated volunteer for the C.H. Booth Library.

Mr Stokes was a lover of music and over the years was a member of several local bands and sang with the Dartmouth Glee Club and Newtown Congregational Church choir. He and his wife, Caroline, were Grand Marshals in the 1994 Labor Day Parade. He regularly participated in the Non-Fiction Book Discussion Group at the library.

Leonard J. Manz, Sr, the longtime organist at the Newtown Congregational Church, died September 29 from injuries suffered in a two-vehicle accident on Interstate 84.

He played the massive pipe organ at The Meeting House, formerly the Newtown Congregational Church, for 50 years, retiring as Organist Emeritus in1993. He also played the pipe organ at the Congregational Church on West Street.

Mr Manz began his organ career in 1933 on a portable foot-pumped reed instrument as a volunteer for a Sunday school held in a barn off Reservoir Avenue in Bridgeport. Following that he was the organist at Bethany Chapel for 13 years, and held the same position at West End Congregational Church for two years.

In addition to his church work, over the years Mr Manz played the organ at four different skating rinks, St Mary’s by the Sea, The Mosque and Pleasure Beach Rink in Bridgeport, and Eli Skating Rink in New Haven, and for fraternal groups.

Mary Patricia Stroud, who was active in her church and community, died July 20. She was an active daily communicant of St Rose of Lima Church and a member of the church choir, a special minister of the Eucharist, and a teacher for the religious education program.

She was a longtime member of Church Women United/Newtown-Bethel, and had served as its chairman of ecumenical action and Key Woman for St Rose of Lima.

Mrs Stroud was a member of Connecticut Choral Society, a member and past president of Newtown Woman’s Club, served on the Board of Newtown Housing for the Elderly (Nunnawauk Meadows), a former president of the Board and a driver for Newtown Meals on Wheels, a member of the Great Books Club, and volunteer for the Newtown Chapter of Regional Hospice.

She was a former member and president of the Catholic Daughters of America/North Carolina Chapter.

Dr Albert R. Brinkman, a former superintendent of schools in Newtown, died November 18. He was an educator and school administrator for more than 40 years, serving as the director of the American School in Japan and superintendent of schools in Dobbs Ferry, Glen Cove, and Nyack, N.Y., and Newtown.

A World War II and Korean War veteran, he was the recipient of the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Medal, and the Asiatic Pacific Medal.

He was a member of Newtown Congregational Church and was active for more than 15 years recording books for the blind.

Zeneida S. Peck Northcott, a longtime resident of Newtown, died December 11. A generous benefactor of the arts, and an indefatigable volunteer, she was well known among community residents for her active role in the Christian Missionary Alliance, League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood, and the Embroiderers Guild. She was a life member of Hadassah.

She and her late husband, the Rev Thomas Northcott, conducted Bible classes at their Taunton Hill Road estate for many years.

Her expertise in needlepoint (she was a protégé of Elsa Williams in New York and Massachusetts) made her home a favorite place for needlepoint lessons and meetings.

Known for her many good deeds, Ms Northcott personally participated with her late identical twin, Irene MeVay, in Alzheimer research at New York University over the past 15 years.